University of Chicago Library

Guide to the Verse Records 1984-2008

Acknowledgments

The Verse Records were processed and preserved as part of the "Uncovering New Chicago Archives Project," funded with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Descriptive Summary

Title:

Verse. Records

Dates:

1984-2008

Size:

16.75 linear feet (34 boxes)

Repository:

Special Collections Research Center
University of Chicago Library
1100 East 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.

Abstract:

The Verse Records were processed and preserved as part of the "Uncovering New Chicago Archives Project," funded with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Information on Use

Access

Series II, Administrative and Events, does not include access copies for the compact discs in this series. Researchers will need to consult with staff before requesting material from this series.

Series IV, Restricted, is restricted until 2035.

The collection is open for research.

Citation

When quoting material from
this collection, the preferred citation is: Verse. Records, [Box#, Folder#], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Historical Note

Verse is an independent literary journal founded in 1984 at Oxford University by Robert Crawford, Henry Hart, and David Kinloch and is currently published by the University of Georgia with assistance from The College of William and Mary and the University of Richmond, VA. Former editors include John Burnside and Lilas Fraser and in 1994, Brian Henry and Andrew Zawacki became the lead editors of Verse.

Verse focuses on international poetry, essays, reviews, and interviews and often presents feature issues on themes or countries. Past features include younger Slovene poets, Australian poetry, Scottish poetry, younger American poets, Mexican poetry, Irish Women poets, Indian poetry, and Russian poetry. The journal has published poems from Ireland, England, Scotland, Russia, Australia, Germany, Spain, Mexico, France, Italy, Cuba, South Africa, Canada, Holland, Sweden, Serbia, Norway, Slovenia, the United States, and other countries. Seamus Heaney said Verse is "One of the most valuable poetry magazines published in the English speaking world."

Robert Crawford was born in Belshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland in 1959 and was educated at Glasgow and Oxford Universities. In 1988, he won the Eric Gregory Award and in 1994 was selected for The New Generation Poet's Promotion. Crawford won the Scottish Arts Council Book Award twice and was recommended for the Poetry Book Society. He is the author of several collections of poetry including A Scottish Assembly (1990), Talkies (1992), Masculinity (1996), Spirit Machines (1999), The Tip of My Tongue (2003), Full Volume (2008). Crawford works as a professor at the University of St. Andrews.

Henry Hart received a B.A. from Darmouth College and a philosophy degree from Oxford University. In 2000 he was the runner up for the Southern Book Critics' Circle Award. Hart's books include: The Ghost Ship (1990), The Rooster Mask (1998), and the Background Radiation (2007). Hart's poetry has appeared in the Gettysburg Review, New Kenyon Review, The Southern Review, The New Yorker Poetry, and Best American Poetry.

David Kinloch was born in Glasglow in 1959 and attended Glasgow and Oxford Universities. He is a recipient of the Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Award. Kinloch's poetry books include Dustie-Fute (1992), Paris –Forfar (1994), UnTour d'Ecosse (2001), and In My Father's House (2005). After leaving Verse he edited Southfields with Richard Price and also published Informationists pamphlets.

Brian Henry received his B.A. degree from the College of William and Mary and M.F.A. at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He won the Alice Fay di Castagnola Award in 2003 and the Cecil B. Hemeley Memorial Award in 2008. Henry is the author of American Incident (2002), Astronaut (2002), Graft (2003), On James Tate (2004), The Verse Book on Interviews (2005), Quarantine (2006), The Shipping Point (2007), and In the Unlikely Event of a Water (2007). Henry's poetry appeared in American Poetry Review, Boston Review, The Canary, Conduit, Denver Quarterly, and The Paris Review. Henry teaches at the University of Richmond.

Andrew Zawacki was born in 1972. In 1995 Andrew Zawacki edited Festschrift for Gustaf Soben with Andrew Joron and The Verse Book of Interviews: 27 Poets on Language, Craft, and Culture with Brian Henry. Zawacki's first book, By Reason of Breakings, won the University of Georgia Contemporary Poetry Series in 2001. Zawacki's second book, Ananbranch, won the Cecil Hemley Memorial Award in 2002. In 2005 Zawacki became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and currently teaches at the University of Georgia.

Scope Note

Verse is an independent journal of international poetry, essays, reviews, and interviews. Verse Records are divided into four series: Series I, Correspondence; Series II, Administrative and Events; Series III, Journal Issues; and Series IV, Restricted. The Verse Records contain submissions, correspondence, proofs, manuscripts, newspaper articles, journal issues, reviews, interviews, invoices, press releases, and promotional material. The records document the business and literary aspects of Verse.

Series I, Correspondence, is organized into two subseries. Subseries 1, Alphabetical, contains correspondence arranged alphabetically by last name and includes letters from poets and colleagues, manuscript submissions, and requests for journal copies.

Subseries 2, Editorial, contains correspondence between the various editors, David Kinloch, Robert Crawford, Henry Hart, Brian Henry, and Andrew Zawacki. It is arranged chronologically and includes administrative and personal correspondence. See Series III for additional manuscript submissions.

Series II, Administrative and Events, includes handbills, manuscripts, newspaper articles, author biographies, press releases, submissions, photographs, interviews, reviews, invoices, promotional material, compact discs, grant applications, memorandum agreements, submissions, permission to publish forms, and mailing lists. There are biographies, newspaper articles, and press releases about the editors and poets of Verse. Administrative documents include grant applications, invoices, permission to publish forms, memorandum agreements, and mailing lists. There are photographs, handbills, promotional material, and information on poetry readings and festivals. The compact discs are selections from Verse Press Books, including Letters To Wendy's by Joe Wenderoth and read by James Urbaniak, and F. Train to Coney Island by Joshua Beckman. The Harper magazine includes an article about Joe Wenderoth's Letters to Wendy's, published by Verse Press.

Series III, Journal Issues, contains correspondence, copyrights agreements, manuscripts, drafts, proofs, notes, interviews, and reviews published in Verse. There are hand-written notations and critiques of drafts and proofs. See Series I for manuscripts kept with correspondence.

Series IV, Restricted, contains a purchase agreement and is restricted until 2035.

Related Resources

The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections: